Patterns of burden in wives who care for husbands with dementia

The purpose of the study described in this article was to examine the longitudinal pattern of subjective burden in a sample of 899 wives caring for husbands with irreversible dementia. Differences in caregiver burden between those caregivers who continued home care and those who placed their relative in institutional care were also tested. For both continuing care and placement cohorts the longitudinal pattern showed increases in burden. However, significantly higher levels of burden were found in the caregivers who placed their husbands in institutional care than in those who continued care in the home. Following placement, the wives experienced a decrease in burden. Clinical and health policy implications of these findings are also addressed for nurses and other health professionals.